Beauty

Skin care myths: Skin treatments

Beauty

Skin care myths: Skin treatments

Can chocolate cause breakouts? Is tanning actually good for my complexion? Here, we ask Holly Sherrard, Education Manager at The International Dermal Institute to dish on the most common skin care myths and the truths behind them.

1. "If I wash my face before I go to bed, I don't have to wash it again in the morning. It's already clean."

TRUTH: Day and night our skin cells shed and the secretions of oil and sweat continue. Oil, sweat, and skin cells along with environmental pollutants collect on our skin leading to a dirty morning face. Cleansing should start with a light-weight plant oil based pre-cleanser to remove surface debris then followed with a soap-free, pH balanced cleanser appropriate for the skin condition. This regimen should be done day and night.

2. "If I have oily skin, then it can't possibly be dehydrated."

TRUTH: The International Dermal Institute has a saying, "If you want good skin you need to pick your parents well." We cannot choose our skin type, we are born with it. Skin conditions such as dehydration fluctuate on a daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal basis depending on the internal and external influences experienced.

Oily skin can experience dehydration or lack of water even though the skin is producing too much oil. It can be caused from harsh soaps, over exfoliation, changes in humidity or incorrect product usage.

3. "Exfoliation is a no-no. It breaks down your skin's natural barriers and makes it more sensitive."

TRUTH: Proper exfoliation is the key to hydration, can reduce pigmentation, breakout activity and signs of premature aging. By using too many exfoliating products or "cherry picking" from many different brands a person may have a sensitized response. When exfoliating, make sure to use a professionally recommended product designed for your skin condition.4. "If you have sensitive skin, you should use as few skin care products as possible to avoid irritation."

TRUTH: A sensitive skin type can be more reactive due to the genetics of a person whereby a sensitized skin condition can result from internal and external influences. When treating a sensitive or sensitized skin, it is important to eliminate any ingredients contributing to the redness such as SD alcohol, artificial fragrance, artificial colour, and lanolin and also minimizing factors such as stress, sun, pollution, alcohol and caffeine. Look for ingredients such as organic silicones, Fumaric Acid, Canadian Willowherb, Avena Sativa (Oat Kernal Extract), Red Raspberry Extract and Panthenol which can help to minimize the occurrence of inflammation and protect from environmental assault.

5. "Chocolate makes me break out."

TRUTH: The skin is affected by what we eat and a healthy diet including plenty of water and fresh fruit and vegetables can minimize toxins in our bodies. By eating more junk food, our body has more toxins in it therefore leading to more stress on our organs. What you eat affects your overall health as well as the health of your skin however it is not a cause of acne

However, high levels of sugar in the diet can elevate hormone levels which in turn can lead to acne breakouts. Any time we have an increase in hormones we may see skin conditions such as breakouts.

6. "Tanning will help clear acne."

TRUTH: Tanning will temporarily reduce acne breakouts by drying out the oil in the skin, however due to the increase in keratinization of the stratum corneum acne can worsen with sun exposure. Sun exposure also causes cancer and can be fatal or disfiguring.

7. Popping pimples is the best way to treat and get rid of them."

TRUTH: Treating breakouts with Salicylic Acid, Benzoyl Peroxide, Tea Tree, Zinc Sulfate and Hydrolyzed Algin will help to dry, heal and peel an acne lesion. When a pimple is "popped" the keratinized cells (skin cells), sebum, and bacteria may enter the Dermis and cause a larger scar or possibly spread more bacteria into the adjacent follicle leading to a breakout right beside the old one.

Celebrity

Gigi Hadid is going on a social media cleanse

Celebrity

Gigi Hadid is going on a social media cleanse

Gigi Hadid and Instagram are about to go on a break. The model recently revealed she'd be taking some time off from the social-media site after the holidays.

"I'm taking a month off, actually, during New Years. I'm not deleting my account, I'm just taking the apps off my phone," she told ELLE US of her social-media hiatus. "It's empowering, not just for people in the spotlight, for everyone. At the end of the day I'm choosing what I'm showing you. A lot of the world feels so entitled to other peoples' lives, which is so crazy. I'm going to take a break when I feel like it, and when I come back and share it with you, if you want to be supportive and still follow me, that's great. But, if you're going to be upset that I need to be human for a month, than maybe I don't want your follow anyway."

While we'll miss her killer feed – which includes her slaying the Victoria's Secret runway, arm in arm with beau Zayn Malik (see below), and #ootds in some of the coolest athleisure we've ever seen, we get it.

Gigi is not the only star to take a break from the 'gram this year. Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian and Selena Gomez also chose to detox from the app. "It has gotten to the point that people won't even say hi to me or recognize me as a human," Bieber wrote on Instagram before deleting his account, "I feel like a zoo animal, and I wanna be able to keep my sanity."

Celebrity

Rihanna is over people creating a competition between her and Beyoncé

The Rihanna Navy and the Beyhive have been on not-so-friendly terms on social media following the announcement of the 2017 Grammy Awards nominations.

Although RiRi expressed gratitude for her whopping eight nods, the Navy felt that she was snubbed after Anti didn't receive a nom for Album of the Year over Beyoncé's Lemonade. Naturally, Bey's fans wasted no time in coming to the defence of their Queen.

But Rihanna quickly cleared things up on the 'gram, commenting on a fan's photo, "I'm petty af, yes. But this is just unnecessary! I wish y'all would drop this topic and see things from the bigger picture! We don't need to be putting black women against each other! We deserve to be celebrated and the Grammy Academy agrees!"

Celebrity

Ryan Gosling teaches Jimmy Kimmel to waltz

Jimmy Kimmel has the best job in the world. Ryan Gosling swung by the late night host's show to chat about his upcoming musical La La Land and was cornered into teaching Jimmy a private dance lesson despite forgetting most of the dance training he underwent for the film.

Ryan demanded passion and eye-to-eye contact from a bashful Jimmy. “Who you looking at," he asked mid-dance. “I want to feel like I’m the only person in the room.”

Olivia Munn just made a major hair change

Hair

Olivia Munn just made a major hair change

Actress Olivia Munn debuted a major hair change for the premiere of her new film, Office Christmas Party. Hairstylist Christian Wood chopped off a casual 12-inches of hair before her red carpet appearance. See below for the entire processs: